Kari Gibb/MDN Minot North sophomore Gracen Rorem (1) makes a layup in front of TMCHS junior Emberlyn Poitra (32) during the action at the first ever home varsity contest for the Minot North Sentinels girls basketball team on Tuesday at Minot North High School.

The Braves from Turtle Mountain Community High School (TMCHS) had the lucky draw to be the first varsity girls team to face the Minot North Sentinels for the historic home debut of the inaugural varsity season of girls basketball on Tuesday, December 10.

The Lady Sentinels will have to wait for another chance at securing the history making first home win. The Braves overcame adversity and foul trouble in the first half to pull out the 84-82 win in the end.

The game began with both teams working through early season jitters and mistakes. Turnovers, poor shooting percentages, traveling calls and missed passes kept the game slow and low scoring for the first eight, nine minutes of the first half of play.

Midway through the first half, TMCHS began applying serious pressure in the full court trap and were able to break free from the stalemate for a 30-20 lead at one point in the contest.

Minot North adjusted and began to collect fouls from the aggressive defense and made better decisions passing the ball out of the full court pressure. With the shift in momentum, the Sentinels were able to catch and pass the Braves in the last minute of play in the first half for the 42-38 lead going into the break.

The Sentinels had five fouls in the first half compared to the ten for the Braves.

Both teams made solid adjustments during the halftime break and continued the game plans established at the end of the first half. In the end, TMCHS outscored Minot North 46-40 for the road win.

Minot North is now 0-2 to start the season with one game on the road lost by eight points and one game at home lost by two points.

The Lady Sentinels will be at Bismarck Legacy on Tuesday, December 17, followed by a trip to Dickinson on Friday, Dec. 20, for their next two games. The next home contest for Minot North to collect that first home win will be on Dec. 28 when Grand Forks Central makes the trip to Minot North.

With the win, TMCHS improves to 2-1 and will continue the road stretch they are on with a game at Beulah on Saturday.